Pursuant to section 233(e)(1) of the Social Security Act
(the "Act"), as amended by the Social Security Amendments of
1977 (Public Law 95-216, 42 U.S.C. 433(e)(1)), I transmit
herewith the Second Supplementary Agreement Amending the
Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America
and the Government of Canada with Respect to Social Security
(the Second Supplementary Agreement). The Second Supplementary
Agreement, signed at Ottawa on May 28, 1996, is intended to
modify certain provisions of the original United States-Canada
Social Security Agreement signed at Ottawa March 11, 1981,
which was amended once before by the Supplementary Agreement
of May 10, 1983.

The United States-Canada Social Security Agreement is
similar in objective to the social security agreements with
Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland,
Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Such bilateral
agreements provide for limited coordination between the U.S.
and foreign social security systems to eliminate dual social
security coverage and taxation, and to help prevent the loss
of benefit protection that can occur when workers divide their
careers between two countries.

The Second Supplementary Agreement provides Canada with a
specific basis to enter into a mutual assistance arrangement
with the United States. This enables each Governments'
Social Security agency to assist the other in enhancing the
administration of their respective foreign benefits programs.
The Social Security Administration has benefited from a similar
mutual assistance arrangement with the United Kingdom. The
Second Supplementary Agreement will also make a number of minor
revisions in the Agreement to take into account other changes
in U.S. and Canadian law that have occurred in recent years.

The United States-Canada Social Security Agreement, as
amended, would continue to contain all provisions mandated
by section 233 and other provisions that I deem appropriate
to carry out the provisions of section 233, pursuant to
section 233(c)(4) of the Act.

I also transmit for the information of the Congress a
report prepared by the Social Security Administration explaining
the key points of the Second Supplementary Agreement, along with
a paragraph-by-paragraph explanation of the effect of the
amendments on the Agreement. Annexed to this report is the
report required by section 233(e)(1) of the Act on the effect of
the Agreement, as amended, on income and expenditures of the
U.S. Social Security program and the number of individuals
affected by the amended Agreement. The Department of State and
the Social Security Administration have recommended the Second
Supplementary Agreement and related documents to me.

I commend the United States-Canada Second Supplementary
Social Security Agreement and related documents.